Borderlands 3 released in September 2019, and since then, the looter-shooter has released four major additional story campaigns for fans to enjoy. These have played with new genres from westerns to Lovecraftian horror and have brought back fan-favorite Vault Hunters from past games as both cameos and main characters.
However, a pattern in the way that past Borderlands games have released their DLC has implications for one questioned plot point of Borderlands 3. If Borderlands 3 follows the trend, theDLC may have already killed one big desire that many fans had hoped to see realized before Borderlands 4.
Borderlands' Story Pattern
The main Borderlands games published by Gearbox have been relatively self-contained. While certain characters from previous games like Maya and Lilith return in Borderlands 3, there’s nothing in the plot of each game which requires new players to give anything more than a cursory glance towards to the plots of previous installments in the series.
Borderlands 1 saw players hunt down Pandora’s famous Vault, but when Handsome Jack was introduced as the main villain in Borderlands 2, there had been nothing to set him up as such in the first game. Indeed, 2K Australia’s Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel went back to explore Jack’s story before the events of the second main Gearbox game, and was able to do so with relative freedom because of Jack’s complete absence from the first game.
While Borderlands 3 begins with the new Vault Hunters joining the Crimson Raiders run by Lilith from the first game, the plot of the third game is self-contained. Rather than wrapping up old plot-threads, the game uses some old characters to tell a new story. The original Vault from the first game returns, but understanding what's happening requires little-t-no knowledge of the first game. This is bad new for Lilith.
Both Lilith and Maya, the Siren characters from Borderlands 1 and Borderlands 2 respectively, are dead by the end of Borderlands 3. However, unlike Maya, Lilith’s death isn’t shown directly. After regaining her Siren abilities, Lilith engulfs the moon Elpis in flames to seal it before it can collide with Pandora. While players see her flying towards the moon, her heroic sacrifice is only implied. The fact that Lilith left her Firehawk signal branded on the moon, which resembles the reborn Phoenix, only fueled speculation that she was alive.
Lilith's Ending
Many fans hoped that Lilith would return in the Borderlands 3 DLCs, especially since so many Borderlands 3 fans disliked Ava, the character who would replace Lilith as a Siren and leader of the Crimson Raiders despite being responsible for Maya’s death. Borderlands 3 has added 4 DLC campaigns so far: Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot came first, followed by Guns, Love, and Tentacles, then Bounty of Blood, and finally Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck.
Nothing in the DLCs has suggested that Lilith may be found alive. While there is another DLC due for release later this year, the new add-on only adds new skill trees and a new game mode to Borderlands 3 rather than adding an extra chapter to the story. As such, it seems like the ending of BL3 may have very well been the ending of Lilith's story in the franchise.
While some mans might hold out of hope that Lilith’s plotline could be revisited in Borderlands 4, the self-containment of each Gearbox Borderlands game so far makes that appear unlikely. While players might expect surviving Vault Hunters to make appearances, returning to a plot point which would require in-depth knowledge of the events of the previous game doesn’t seem to match Borderlands’ more episodic-like approach.
Borderlands 3 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X upgrades in development.